Football shoe cleat and arch construction



y 1969 D. J. MORELLI 3,444,630

FOOTBALL SHOE CLEAT AND ARCH CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 13, 196'? {47 Z a:29 Z iffaeA/fy US. CI. 36-25 United States Patent 3,444,630 FOOTBALLSHOE CLEAT AND ARCH CONSTRUCTION Dominick J. Morelli, 23 CatherwoodCrescent, Melville, N.Y. 11746 Filed Oct. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 675,094

Int. Cl. A43c 13/04, 15/00, 15/16 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Acleat construction for a football shoe embodying four cleats for theheel and five cleats for the sole in which each cleat is of cubeformation presenting a flat square ground engaging surface and having ametallic threaded insert for threaded engagement with a bolt securelyfixed to the shoe. A metal heel plate and a separate flexible metal soleplate is disposed between an inner sole and the shoe heel and sole, bothbeing provided with openings through which the bolts extend, the headsof the bolts seating on each plate with each head having lugs on itsunder face engaging slots in the associated metal plates to preventrotation of the bolts. Nuts on the bolts serve to fixedly secure thebolts to the plates. Disposed exteriorly of the shoe at the arch portionthereof is a rubber arch support between the sole and heel cleats.

This invention relates to cleats for football shoes.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved cleatconstruction that will improve the traction properties of a footballshoe by presenting a larger area of ground engaging surface than isoffered by the customary frusto-conical cleats now in use, which willnot sink into soft ground, which is strong and rugged, which is ofsimple construction and low cost, which will minimize ankle sprains andknee breaks and which can easily be mounted on the football shoe.

Another object of this invention is to form the cleat of cube like shapewith a metal cup shaped insert having a stern provided with a threadedbore to receive the shank of a bolt fixedly secured by a nut to the heeland/or sole of the football shoe, the nut lying within the cup of theinsert when the cleat is attached to the shoe.

A still further object of this invention is to provide within the shoebeneath the inner sole thereof, a metal heel plate and a flexible metalsole plate to which the bolts are fixedly secured in non-rotativeengagement.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide at the arch portionof the football shoe an exterior rubber arch support that will serve toassist the football player in his lateral movements in cutting left andright and as an aid in preventing the cleats from digging too deeply inmud areas.

The invention consists also in any other novel features hereinafter setforth in detail in the following description, illustrated by way ofexample in the accompanying drawing and more particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a football shoe equipped with the cleats andarch support of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a bottom plan view of the football shoe showing the numberand position of the cleats and the exterior arch support.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the arch support.

FIGURE 4 is a detail elevational view partly in section of the toe endof the shoe and the mounting of the forward cleat thereat.

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan view taken on line 5-5, FIG. 4.

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the heel and sole metal plates for supportingthe cleat attaching bolts.

FIGURE 7 is an elevational view of a mounting bolt.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a football shoe 10 is formed with asole portion 12, a heel portion 14 and a connecting intermediate archportion 16 in the manner well known.

For attachment to the sole and heel portions of the football shoe thereis provided a plurality of cleats 18, there being four for the heelportion and five for the sole portion. On the heel portion 14, thecleats 18 are arranged in parallel relationship longitudinally of theshoe. On the sole portion 16, the cleats 18 are similarly arranged withthe odd cleat 18a disposed at the toe end of the sole portion.

The cleats 18, 18a are each identical in construction and attachment andare therefore interchangeable. Each cleat is formed of a molded block ofplastic material such as nylon, square in horizontal cross-section andin the preferred dimensions of /3" x 1" square, and a metal insert 20.As seen in FIGURE 4, the metal insert 20 is provided with an upper cup22 having an axial depending stem 24. Provided in stem 24 is aninternally threaded axial bore 25, and the entire insert 20 ispositioned axially in the vertical center of the cleat.

Within the football shoe is the customary inner sole 26 and suitablypositioned between the inner sole 26 and the toe and heel portions 12,14 respectively are separate metal sole and heel plates 27, 27a, seeFIG. 6, only the sole plate 27 being shown so positioned, see FIG. 4.The metal sole and heel plates serve as supports for cleat holdingmembers to be hereinafter described, and at least the metal sole plateis flexible in order to permit flexing of the sole when the shoe isworn.

Formed in the metal supporting sole and heel plates 27, 27a areelongated narrow slots 28, each slot extending lengthwise thereof andeach slot provided with a central enlarged opening 30. Received in eachopening 30' is a bolt 32 having a threaded shank 34 and a rounded head36 that is relatively thin. Depending from the flat underside of thehead 36 is a pair of lungs 38 disposed in diametrical alignment andequally spaced one on each side of shank 34. The bolt 32 is positionedover each slot 28 with the shank 34 extending downwardly through opening30 and the lugs 38 seated in the slot, see FIG. 4. A nut 40 threaded onshank 34' rigidly secures the bolt in place, with the lugs 38 acting tolock the bolt against rotative movement. As seen in FIG. 4, the head 36of the bolt seats directly on the metal supporting sole plate 27 and iscovered by the inner sole 26. By virtue of being thin and rounded thehead 36 cannot be felt by the foot through the inner sole when thefootball shoe is Worn. The bolt shank 34 extends through an opening 42,see FIG. 4, and preferably has a substantially close fit therewith.

With all of the bolts 32 secured to the sole portion 12 and heel portion14, a cleat is attached to each bolt by simply threading the cleatthereon. The length of threaded shank 34 is less than the threaded bore25 in the stem 22 of the insert 20 so as to permit the upper face of thecleat to tightly grip the abutting surface of the sole and heelportions.

In the exterior arch portion 16 of the football shoe there is provided aflat rubber arch insert 44 of somewhat hour-glass shape and of athickness less than the height of the cleats, and secured to the shoearch portion 16 in any suitable manner well known in the art of shoeconstruction. The purpose of the rubber arch is to assist the player incutting left and right and as an aid in preventing the cleats fromdigging too deeply in mud areas.

The constructional form of the cleats and their arrangement on the soleand heel portions of the football shoe will prevent a player wearing thesame from not sustaining knee injuries by not allowing the cleats to digdeeply into the ground. The broad ground engaging surface of the cleatsprovides excellent traction for cutting left and right, stopping andstarting from any position, Without digging deeply into the ground as dothe now existing pointed cleats on football shoes. Football shoesequipped with the cleats of the invention will be more comfortablebecause of the fiat surface of the cleats. Twisted ankles will be at aminimum because of this broad cleat surface as when stepping on softground, the flat broad cleats will not allow the shoe to twist outcausing ankle sprain. Also by notdigging deeply into the ground thecleats of the invention will not immobilize the shoe causing kneeinjuries when the player is hit. Yet the cleat provides maximumtraction. With this particular type of cleat, when a player is tackled,after planting hi foot on the ground for a left or right cut, the shoewill give because of the flat surface of the cleat preventing a possibleknee injury. The provision of nine cleats on the football shoe providesfor greater efficiency, safety and comfort over the conventional shoeequipped with seven cleats.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A football shoe traction construction projecting from the heel andsole portions of the shoe comprising:

(a) a plurality of cleats removably attached to the heel and soleportions of the shoe,

(b) each cleat presenting a flat ground engaging surface of substantialarea,

(c) there being four cleats on the heel portion and five cleats on thesole portion,

(d) said cleats being arranged in equal parallel rows and with one cleatpositioned at the toe end of the sole portion,

(e) an exterior arch support secured to said shoe be tween the heel andsole cleats having a thickness less than the height of said cleats,

(f) each cleat is formed of a molded plastic material,

(g) a metal cup shaped insert in said cleat having an upper open portionand an axial depending stem provided with a threaded bore,

(h) each cleat being four sided of substantially cube formation and theflat ground engaging surface constituting the bottom of the cleat beingsquare,

(i) threaded means fixedly carried by the shoe and projecting from theheel and sole portions thereof for threadedly engaging with the threadedbore of the metal insert stem of the cleat for securing the cleat to theshoe,

(j) a metal heel plate,

(k) a flexible metal sole plate,

(1) an inner sole in the shoe,

(In) both said metal heel and sole plates being positioned between saidinner sole and the shoe heel and sole portions,

(n) there being a plurality of elongated slots in said metal heel andsole plates,

(0) each slot having a central enlarged opening,

(p) said threaded means constituting a headed bolt having a threadedshank extending through each central opening,

(q) at least one lug depending from the under side of each bolt head andreceived in an associated elongated slot, and

(r) a nut on each threaded shank securing the bolt in fixed non-rotativeengagement to the metal heel and sole plates.

2. The football shoe traction construction of claim 1,

wherein:

(a) said nut lies in the metal cup of the cleat insert with the upperface of the cleat in abutting engagement with its associated heel andsole portion, and

(b) each bolt head being thin and rounded.

3. The football shoe traction construction of claim 2,

wherein:

(a) said exterior arch support is formed of rubber of substantiallyuniform thickness and of substantially hour-glass configuration.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,682,714 6/1954 Phillips 36-593,187,073 1/1965 Bingham 36-25 X 3,273,266 9/1966 Goldenberg 36-76 X3,333,352 8/1967 Livingston 36-25 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

